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Fariba Rezwan is a Lead Editor for the Movie News team. She has been with ScreenRant for nearly five years, with roles ranging from list editor to junior news editor.
During that time, Fariba has led coverage for breaking movies and TV news, including Hunger Games, Marvel, and streaming. Additionally, she has actively provided commentary and reactions to the biggest movies and shows on her YouTube channel, The Movieception Show.
Jared Padalecki is ready to make his first movie in over a decade, but it will require a name change. It was reported in September 2025 that the Supernatural star was set to make his Netflix debut with an adaptation of Katherine Center's bestselling novel The Bodyguard. It would be co-led by Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester.
However, the novel's title raised a question whether the Netflix movie adaptation would carry the same name since it may get confused with Kevin Costner’s 1992 romantic thriller. Plus, the stories are not connected. To avoid this issue, Netflix has finally decided on a new title for the movie.
On Instagram, Center shared the movie’s new title as Guarding Stars, explaining that “we had to change the title because there already is a movie called The Bodyguard. That’s already iconic, and this movie needs to be iconic in its own way.”
The officially titled Guarding Stars will follow an action star (Padalecki) who is given a bodyguard (Meester). However, things turn complicated over the holidays when his bodyguard has to pretend to be his girlfriend to ease concerns for his family. Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum will helm as the director, while the story is written by Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith. Genevieve Padalecki will also join her husband as a producer.
The Bodyguard was published in 2022 and quickly became a New York Times bestseller. It would be the third Center book to get an adaptation, following The Lost Husband and Happiness For Beginners.
The upcoming Netflix adaptation is exciting for audiences who are familiar with Padalecki and Meester’s works since they have a strong background in the television sphere.
In particular, the project would be Padalecki’s first on-screen movie role in nearly 16 years after starring in 2009’s Friday the 13th. His last official movie was English dubbing for Phantom Boy. During that time, however, the actor was busy with his hit show Supernatural, playing Sam Winchester from 2005 to 2020.
On the other hand, Meester’s career has been more low-key post-Gossip Girl, but she has starred in series like The Buccaneers, Nobody Wants This, and Good Cop/Bad Cop.
Currently, Guarding Stars does not have a release date on Netflix. While it may take some time, Padalecki will be reuniting with Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins in The Boys season 5, set for this year. Meester’s new comedy, Basic, is in post-production, but doesn’t have a release date either.
Director Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
Writers Grant Scharbo, Richard Keith, Erin Cardillo
English (US) ·